Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Adds and Weekly Planner: Week 18 (2/26-3/3)

Thunder Dan Palyo gets you set for the upcoming week of Fantasy Basketball with a schedule breakdown and his top players to add off the waiver wire for Week 18.

I did my best to keep the content flowing during the All-Star break, but now that the NBA has been back for a few days and the super long Week 17 is in the books, it's time for you to do whatever you have to do in these next few weeks to get your team in the playoffs. Once in the playoffs, anything can happen! (This is the beauty of H2H leagues - and also what some people don't love about them, too).

The key to winning fantasy basketball leagues is NOT about how you draft, but what you do afterward with waiver additions and trades. And while you might make a handful of trades during a season, you're most certainly going to make dozens of waiver adds and drops as you try to cope with injuries to players or just try to maximize your games played each week in H2H formats.

Working the wire is an incredibly important skill and being one step ahead of your fellow league managers means always planning and keeping tabs on players who starting to play better or earn more minutes. Every week, I will do my best to help you plan out your week and give you my top recommendations to add from waivers in both standard (10-12 team leagues) and deeper formats (more than 12 teams).

Week 18 Schedule Breakdown

Notes:

No two-game weeks for any teams as everyone plays three or four times.

The Raptors play four games and have a day off between each so no back-to-backs.

The Suns have three days off, but have a great schedule for the second half of the week as they play Thursday and then have the coveted Sat-Sun B2B.

Standard League Adds For Week 18

Percentage owned numbers in parentheses are from Yahoo!

Gary Trent Jr. - PG/SG (35%)

Trent has been a notoriously streaky player during his career, but he's playing well recently and playing enough minutes to warrant rostering. With four games this week, the Raptors have a great schedule that includes matchups with both Indiana (tonight) and Charlotte (Sunday) that should be favorable for offense. He's mainly a points and threes player, but he's increased his steals lately and is up to 0.9 swipes per game on the year.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. - SG/SF (34%)

The talented rookie has floated between starter and sixth-man for much of the season, but he's been incredibly valuable to this Miami team and has carved out a role in the rotation where he's getting minutes in the high 20s even when coming off the bench. I just really like his game as he can do a little of everything other than block shots. With four games this week, Miami has a solid schedule as well including matchups with Portland and Utah.

Even better in slo-mo 👀 https://t.co/OYlR1M1ILG pic.twitter.com/TVyYElZLCD

— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024

Duncan Robinson - SG/SF (33%)

From one Heat player right to the next, let's talk about Mr. Robinson. I had to cut him in a league when he got hurt earlier this month and I am really regretting it. The three-point assassin has been spectacular over his last four games, knocking down 19 triples and scoring 20+ points twice in the process. He's best coming off the bench where he can get off more shots and he's less of a liability on defense, but he's still getting minutes in the low 30s because needs his offense out there.

Simone Fontecchio - SF (24%)

We have a theme going here with yet another strong shooter who has a four-game week. Detroit looks like they're committed to playing the sharpshooting Italian solid minutes since they acquired him at the deadline. He has scored in double-digits in all but one game as a Piston and has 2 or more triples in each contest. The peripheral stats are sparse, but his shooting percentages have been solid. He has the green light to fire up shots and a few solid matchups this week for shooters (Chicago, Cleveland), too.

Deep League Adds For Week 18

Luke Kennard - PG/SG (12%)

Kennard has been overshadowed in Memphis lately by the emergence of Vince Williams Jr. and G.G. Jackson, but the veteran guard could be on his way back to being a sneaky-good fantasy contributor now that he's healthy and back in the lineup. The Grizzlies play four games this week, so I am interested in their roster.

Kennard had a stretch in January and February where he was playing at a top-100 level due to his solid shooting and increased assists. He's not a sexy add, but Luke could certainly help your team this week.

Bol Bol - PF (9%)

The 7-footer has always been a pretty productive player on a per-minute basis, but he has yet to find a team that has been willing to make him a consistent part of their rotation in his career.

KD sets up Bol Bol for the two-hand SLAM 🔨 pic.twitter.com/QAyEF6xgXm

— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 24, 2024

Well don't look now but he just played 24 and 27 minutes off the bench for Phoenix in his last two games and the results were tremendous. He finished with 25 points and 14 boards against Houston last week! He has the range to shoot from deep but also the ability to get to the bucket and finish.

Now Phoenix has three days off, but they will finish the week with three games in four days. Hopefully, Bol Bol has shown enough lately to keep getting those minutes, he's worth a speculative add to see if he can stick.

Taylor Hendricks - PF (6%)

It's time for the youth movement in Utah, as the Jazz have decided to give the rookie Hendricks the starting PF spot in their last two games. He was much more impressive in his debut (12 points, 9 rebounds) than he was last night (9 points, 3 rebounds) but the important thing was that he played 26 minutes in each game. And if that trend continues, he should be rostered in 12-team leagues, go grab him while you still can.

Vasilije Micic - PG (5%) 

Micic has played 20+ minutes in all six games for Charlotte since being acquired from OKC. He's a sneaky source of assists for as long as LaMelo Ball remains out as he dropped seven dimes again last night to give him three games with 7 or more already in his time as a Hornet.

Gradey Dick - SG (4%)

The Raptor rookie has poured in double-digit points in three of his last five games. He's coming on strong here to finish the season and getting a lot of shots up with the second unit. He's also cracked 20 minutes or more in six of Toronto's last eight games. He can get buckets and Toronto has nothing left to play for other than to develop their young talent this season.

Lamar Stevens - PF (3%)

I wrote about Stevens and some of the other Memphis youngsters here in my Silly Season Heroes piece. Even when Jaren Jackson returned to the lineup this weekend, Stevens still played 16 minutes off the bench and was effective with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block. He's just such a stat stuffer that I am committed to holding him until we get an eventual JJJ shutdown and I think he could crush if ever given close to 30 minutes.

That's it for this week, good luck in your leagues, and thanks for reading!

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